Ms Verona Murphy:

I do not disagree with Deputy Fitzmaurice's suggestion. My only argument would be that it should start a lot earlier. This would be presuming that everybody is going to drive a car or ride a bicycle. That is not the case in urban areas but in the same vein there is a huge disparity understanding how a mechanically propelled vehicle operates, be it a car or a heavy goods vehicle, in comparison to pedestrian or cyclist safety awareness. If a driver of a vehicle uses a mobile phone it incurs penalty points because it is a huge safety risk. If a pedestrian steps off the footpath with a mobile phone in his or her hand while Googling or reading texts it is not an offence. It should be an offence because the person is in the public area, whether driving or otherwise. Everybody has to have respect for what he or she does on the roads.

I really want this committee to look at the issue of hedges. There is no disparity between us and the forestry and agricultural contractors around road safety. We want the same thing. NCT, road haulage licences and one versus the other are all competitive issues and we can deal with them outside this arena. Hedge cutting, however, is a basic fact of road safety. It is the easiest measure to administer. The county councils have the power. Whether or not they have the money or the wherewithal to go after the landowner is another thing. It is the primary cause of most road accidents in rural Ireland. It has not been mentioned much today. The height of a mirror of a truck tractor or a bus is 4 m. There is no height requirement in the legislation. It should be best practice and it should be practical in application. The county manager in Wexford is a very proactive individual. Last week they cut hedging in Wexford under the special provision of road safety, which was outside the hedge cutting period. It can be done as it is already regulated for. The law is there so it should be used.